* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
To be a world leader in the fight against modern slavery, the UK cannot allow any victim to receive second-rate support
Kate Roberts is head of office at the Human Trafficking Foundation.
Trafficking survivors have often experienced unimaginable horrors. As victims of serious human rights abuses they are entitled to protection and care under international law; including legislation such as the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005), which clearly sets out the range of support and protection measures that should be afforded to victims.
In the UK, government funded support is provided to victims through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Potential victims of trafficking can access government funded care if they give their consent to being referred into the NRM and are positively identified at the ‘Reasonable Grounds’ stage; the first stage of a two-stage decision making process. In 2017, 5145 people were referred into the NRM. These annual referral figures, published by the NCA, are the main source of data used into the UK as to levels of trafficking. In 2016, 79 percent of people referred received a positive reasonable grounds decision as so would have been entitled to NRM support.
The Human Trafficking Foundation (HTF), together with many other organisations and experts who work to support survivors of trafficking, have frequently highlighted the numerous flaws with the NRM, including that support needs to be provided for far longer following a trafficking decision. However, there is no doubt that the information, advice and support which people receive while in the NRM is key to their long-term rehabilitation and recovery.
This is why the government’s decision, announced in October 2017, to adopt the Human Trafficking Foundation’s Trafficking Survivor Care Standards and include them in future NRM care contracts is so important and so welcome. As the then Minister responsible, Sarah Newton MP explained during a backbench debate on the Modern Slavery Act:
“If a potential victim opts to enter the NRM, we must ensure that the care they receive is consistent and meets minimum standards, regardless of where in the country they are being cared for. That is why the Government will adopt the Human Trafficking Foundation’s trafficking survivor care standards as a minimum standard for victim support”.
The Trafficking Survivor Care Standards were written in 2014 by a coalition of 25 organisations working in the anti-slavery sector, to provide practical and therapeutic support to victims. Four years on, the understanding of survivor needs and the legislative context has developed substantially.
HTF, together with experts from 32 organisations has spent the last year updating the standards; these revised ‘Slavery and Trafficking Survivor Care Standards’, which have been endorsed by the First Anti- Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland, will be launched today at the Anti-Slavery Awards in Parliament.
This update, a genuinely collaborative piece of work, could not have happened without the generous sharing of expertise, experience and resources from the long list of contributors and the organisations they work for.
The standards aim to provide a guarantee to victims who are considering a referral into the NRM that the support they receive, wherever they are in the UK, will be of a high standard. Victims need to be assured that the UK will support them to access their rights and entitlements, including their right to safe housing, healthcare, early and specialist legal advice, and advocacy for their individual needs.
The standards also aim to better support those working with victims. For the past year, organisations have been working together to share best practice to ensure that all staff throughout the sector are supported in the challenging work of delivering the standards of care we would all expect and hope for.
To be a world leader in the fight against modern slavery, as is the Prime Minister’s hope, the UK cannot allow any victim to receive second-rate support. It is HTF’s hope, and the hope of the anti-trafficking sector, that the adoption of these standards will underline the UK’s commitment to providing care which puts victims well on the path to begin to recover and to rebuild their lives.
